Abstract

Much attention is focussed on protecting built development and infrastructure in coastal areas as a
result of climate change and sea-level rise. In some cases, allowance for the coast to adjust
naturally to sea-level rise can provide substantial benefits in reduced protection costs and
preservation of natural features that underpin the appeal and value of the coast to residents and
visitors. Natural foredunes provide substantial protection for inland areas from storm surges. They
provide a buffer to reduce the immediate rate of erosion after a severe storm or series of lesser
storm events. Given adequate room to form and reform as sea levels change, they provide these
services at a minimal cost. Where the natural rate of adjustment may be slow and leave some hind
areas at risk, these processes may be assisted by augmentation/nourishment and revegetation
undertaken in a way to mimic or reinforce natural processes. All this may be at substantially lower
cost than man-made structures of rock, concrete or other responses, and often with greater appeal
to many in the community. Some other shoreline types are also prone to flooding, erosion and
slumping. In these cases too, provision of an unoccupied buffer zone between the shoreline and
development serves as a low cost form of protection from these coastal hazards while also
providing a coastal strip giving the social benefit of public access to the shore along with the
conservation benefits of retaining a natural coastal reserve. High value coastal ecosystems may
also make a claim on space to adjust. Areas that host shore feeding birds, wetlands that provide
habitat for migratory birds (RAMSAR sites) and other coastal habitat that host ecological
communities such as salt marsh which have declining areas available may have high ecological
value. If there were no coastal development, many of these ecosystems could migrate inland with
rising sea levels. Where landscape fragmentation due to roads or other forms of development
block this inland movement, or where natural landforms prevent this, these natural coastal
communities will be lost. Inventories of high value ecosystems that still have potential to move
inland are needed, so as to identify priority sites where allowance for inland migration over time
can be ensured.